[634] See BENNETT, "Uniformity in Mar. and Div. Laws," _Am. Law Register_, N. S., XXXV, 223 ff., who points out that the statutes of Alabama, Pennsylvania, and Missouri, where the common-law marriage is valid, are far more prohibitory than those of Massachusetts, Maryland, or West Virginia, where it is void. The statute of Alabama says positively that "no marriage shall be solemnized without a license issued by the judge of probate of the county where the female resides;" but a marriage so solemnized is nevertheless valid.
[635] COOK, "The Mar. Cel. in the U. S.," _Atlantic_, LXI, 523.
[636] Milford _v._ Worcester (1810), 7 _Mass._, 48-58. See also, to the same effect, Commonwealth _v._ Munson (1879), 127 _Mass._, 459-71; 34 _Am. R._, 411. In this case it is correctly held that Justice Bigelow's decision in Parton _v._ Hervey (1854), 1 GRAY, 119, that the statute is merely "directory," relates to banns and parental consent, and not to solemnization; for Milford _v._ Worcester is cited as authority.
[637] See the opinion of Judge Redfield in Northfield _v._ Plymouth (1848), 20 _Vt._, 582, holding that a common-law marriage could not be regarded as valid without "virtually repealing our statutes," thus reversing the doctrine of Newbury _v._ Brunswick (1829), 2 _Vt._ 151; 19 _Am. D._, 703; and consult especially Morrill _v._ Palmer (1895), 68 _Vt._, 1-23, holding "that what ... Kent calls the 'loose doctrine of the common law,' in relation to marriage, was never in force in this state."
[638] See the opinion of Chief Justice Gilchrist in Dumbarton _v._ Franklin (1848), 19 _N. H._, 257, rejecting as irrelevant Judge Woodbury's _obiter dictum_ in Londonderry _v._ Chester (1820), 2 _N. H._, 268-81, usually cited to sustain the common-law marriage; but this objection to it is scarcely valid.
[639] S. _v._ Hodskins (1841), 19 _Me._, 155-60; 36 _Am. D._, 743. _Cf._ Ligonia _v._ Buxton, 2 _Me._, 95. According to Hiram _v._ Pierce, 45 _Me._, 367, the statute of Maine, like that of Massachusetts, is only directory regarding parental consent in case of minors.
[640] _Gen. Stat. of Ct._ (1902), 1086. According to REEVE, _Law of Husband and Wife_, 252 ff.; followed by KENT, _Commentaries_, II, secs. 87 ff., the common-law marriage was formerly good in Connecticut.